expression

1 an act, process, or means of putting something into words <the poem is his expression of his grief upon the loss of his beloved wife> Synonyms articulation, formulation, phrasing, statement, utterance, verbalism, voice, wording Related Words outlet, vent; observation, reflection, remark, thought; speech, tongue

2 facial appearance regarded as an indication of mood or feeling <we could tell by the fans' expressions that the Chicago Cubs had lost again> Synonyms cast, countenance, look, face, visageRelated Words frown, grimace, lower (also lour), mouth, pout, scowl; grin, smile; air, appearance, aspect, bearing, demeanor, manner, mien, presence

3 a pronounceable series of letters having a distinct meaning especially in a particular field <the expression “John Doe” is used in legal proceedings to refer to a person whose actual name is either unknown or being withheld from the public> Synonyms word, termRelated Words linguistic form, monosyllable, morpheme, speech form; polysyllable; collocation, idiom, locution, phrase; archaism, coinage, colloquialism, euphemism, loanword, modernism, neologism, vernacularism

4 a sequence of words having a specific meaning <the popular expression “raining cats and dogs” is meaningless in other languages> Synonyms phrase, idiomRelated Words cliché (also cliche); locution, term; epithet, expletive, name; byword, cry, motto, shibboleth, slogan, watchword; archaism, colloquialism, euphemism, modernism, neologism, provincialism, vulgarism